The best and not-so-best of 2017’s college football bowl game gifts for players

The 2017-18 bowl season is upon us, and players who participate in them will get gifts from their games. Players can’t be paid money, per NCAA rules, unlike most other big-revenue sports’ postseasons.

Sports Business Dailygave us the lowdown on everything players will be taking home this year. The majority of bowls stepped up their game from a couple of years ago. With the games happening around the holiday season — and the fact that these players work at this sport 12 months a year — kudos to most of these bowls for giving participants some pretty awesome gifts within the NCAA’s $550 limit.

Belk Bowl, Wake Forest vs. Texas A&M: Shopping trip to Belk department store, Fossil watch. Last year, an Arkansas player was suspended from the Belk Bowl after he was accused of shoplifting $260 worth of items on the Belk shopping trip, so hopefully something like that doesn’t happen again!

Gifts mostly made up “gift suites,” which can mean some different things

What are gift suites exactly? They’re private events in which participants can pick from a variety of items — from electronics to jewelry and even furniture — worth up to a total of $550.

Game participants, and often bowl VIPs, are given an order form and allowed to select a gift, or gifts, up to a value that is predetermined by each bowl, not to exceed the NCAA limit.

The NCAA allows each bowl to award up to $550 worth of gifts to 125 participants per school. Schools can, and usually do, buy additional packages that they can distribute to participants beyond that 125 limit. In addition, participants can receive awards worth up to $400 from the school and up to $400 from the conference for postseason play, covering both conference title games and any bowl game.

There’s no real specification when it comes to gift suites. Some might be good. Some might be not so great.